Carriers that choose open source wireless services will see better returns on their investment than carriers using proprietary systems, according to Marc Mitchell, Transportation Practice Director for Enterprise Information Solutions, Inc.
Speaking at a recent conference on fleet information technologies, Mitchell pointed out that for the last 15 years wireless technology has come as a proprietary and closed offering to the transportation industry.
“Today, however, an increasing number of transportation operations are rethinking their approach based on a new generation of wireless technologies that leverage a much wider audience of users but is still capable of addressing the specific needs of transportation industry,” he says.
As wireless systems move to a more commodity-based model, users can pick and choose among the best services and products for their specific needs, says Mitchell. For example, the combination of wireless communication and the internet have joined to become just another type of wide area network connection. “The distinction between Transportation Management Systems and On-Board Computer domains is quickly becoming obsolete,” he says.
“The result will be that more and more commercial trucking firms will turn to this ‘Open System’ commodity application that uses inexpensive mobile communications technology to perform all necessary trucking functions … while leveraging the economic forces at play in the consumer market,” says Mitchell, whose company deploys technology based on open systems.
